


Always Read the Fine Print

by ao_no_senshi



Category: Ultraman Gaia
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Forced Marriage, M/M, Mental Coercion, Telepathy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-15
Updated: 2011-04-15
Packaged: 2017-10-23 17:56:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/253182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ao_no_senshi/pseuds/ao_no_senshi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A trading mission goes badly off course, leaving Kajio Katsumi to handle to fallout as best he can under less than ideal circumstances. It doesn't help that part of his problem is having to deal with a husband he'd never expected to have, especially when said husband doesn't even speak his language.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Always Read the Fine Print

"...and so now you're... married." Ishimuro looked like he'd just come down the galaxy's worst headache and Katsumi winced inwardly at the dressing down he was likely to get when he returned to Earth. This was not how the trading mission with the Gaians had been supposed to go.

"Yes, sir."

"To a Gaian."

Resisting the urge to look over his shoulder at where his new husband had not long fallen asleep, Katsumi just about managed not to wince and simply repeated, "Yes, sir," instead. He should probably get the guy into one of the bunks rather than leave him sleeping at the kitchen's table because that couldn't be comfortable.

"Wonderful," his boss sighed, rubbing at his temples tiredly. Which was all very well, Katsumi thought sourly, but Ishimuro wasn't the one having to deal with a marriage he hadn't wanted in the first place, a husband he could barely communicate with and an unnerving blur of memory that _should_ tell him how he'd ended up in this situation but didn't. Oh, and a month long journey back to Earth, assuming the _Lightning_ didn't run into any raiders or any other kind of problem on the way. "Care to explain how that happened?"

"I really wish I could, sir." _Any_ kind of detail would help right now, instead of snatches of vague sights or sounds that told him absolutely zilch about the whole thing. He hoped it would clear up eventually because the not knowing was driving him crazy. He wondered if the Gaian man had a clearer memory about it than he did. Probably. Too bad he couldn't _ask_ him.

Ishimuro studied him carefully, his concern more than evident in his gaze before his shoulders slumped. At least it didn't look like he was going to have explain _why_ he couldn't explain, not over an open channel at any rate. "Why didn't you just say no?"

"I tried." That was one thing he _did_ remember, at least. That and the Gaian looking upset about it as well. After that was when things got hazy. "They don't seem to like the word 'no', sir." Where not liking seemed to translate to: you don't go anywhere until we hear you say 'yes'. And who would have thought that such a supposedly peaceful people could be so damn scary when they wanted to be.

"When they're the ones hearing it, anyway," Ishimuro muttered. "Alright," he sighed. "Look, don't worry about it, Kajio, we'll take care of this when you get back. Just... get yourself and the Gaian back here in one piece, alright?"

"Will do, sir," Katsumi replied, giving his boss a tired salute before the comm screen went black. Pushing himself up out of the pilot's seat, Katsumi paused by what had been Kitada's seat before his co-pilot had regretfully announced his resignation, reasons unknown, just before they'd been due to depart. It had been an important trading mission, one they couldn't just reschedule for when he found another co-pilot. He'd ended up going alone and that was never happening again. Ever. Not to Gaia, not anywhere. Period.

The Gaian man - what had his name been again? He hadn't seen him much since the ceremony, too busy with trade meetings and all the other things he'd come here to do, to find out. He'd have to ask in the morning - shifted slightly in his sleep, muttering something Katsumi didn't understand under his breath.

"Alright," he sighed, patting the man on the shoulder awkwardly. "Time to get you to bed."

He didn't think the other man was entirely awake, but he did manage to get him to the nearest set of sleeping quarters. He'd prefer it if said room wasn't his but the guy could have the bottom bunk, no big deal. It wasn't as if they'd be sleeping together anyway, but it had been a while since he'd shared quarters with anyone, even when Kitada and Ogawara had been his crew. Once that was done Katsumi toed off his boots and swung himself up the ladder that led to his own bunk, flopping down on the mattress, his head thumping against the pillow, the same question running around his head that had been lodged there for the past two days. What the hell was he supposed to do now?

***

The man's name turned out to be Gamu, which Katsumi finally managed to figure out the next day over an awkward breakfast. No longer being on-planet meant there were no interpreters and his translator had been a piece of junk anyway, even before it had broken, which meant he was on his own in terms of dealing with this unwelcome new addition to his life. He tried not to vent his frustration at Gamu, though: this wasn't something he'd wanted either and it wouldn't be fair to get angry at him when it wasn't his fault.

Much as he hoped this marriage wouldn't be upheld back home, leaving the two of them free to do whatever they wanted, he wasn't overly optimistic on that front. Gaia was part of the Trade Alliance, which meant legal agreements and contracts from one planet were considered valid across the board. Which was useful right up until it bit you in the ass. Katsumi sighed and wondered if the _Lightning_ 's computer had any kind of Terran-Gaian dictionary in its system; he could always introduce Gamu to Japanese later, once he'd got the hang of Terran Standard, and they _did_ have a month's journey time to make a start. Like hell was he going to have a husband he couldn't even talk to.

One of the first things he learned - after finding that yes, the computer did have a dictionary, albeit an out of date one - was that Gamu couldn't cook to save his life, which meant that if either of them wanted decent meals then Katsumi was going to have to do it himself. He was tired of eating his own cooking but Gamu seemed to like it at least, which was something.

"Are you sure it's alright?" he'd asked suspiciously on the third day of their trip back. So far Gamu didn't appear to have had a single negative reaction to anything and that made Katsumi more than a little uneasy. "You don't have to go along with everything I do just because we're," he waved a hand vaguely in the air, "married now. You can disagree, you know."

Gamu gave him a blank look, then his fingers brushed against Katsumi's as he reached for his mug of coffee - something he'd gotten attached to more quickly than Katsumi had expected - and his expression cleared as understanding sunk in. He shook his head with a smile and picked up his cup, shrugging in the way Katsumi was beginning to associate with 'it's fine.' Which it wasn't, really. He couldn't shake the feeling Gamu was only pretending to be fine because he thought he had to: if the man would just disagree or get upset about something, he'd feel a lot better and less like he was living with some kind of pod person.

Well, it didn't seem as if that was likely to happen any time soon. Maybe when Gamu was a bit more settled and they were both more used to each other he'd relax. It was getting to that point that was the problem, though. Gamu was picking up Standard quickly, given the short amount of time he'd been studying - most of his free time spent with the dictionary and the basic language excercises the computer contained - but it wasn't enough to hold a decent conversation with and Katsumi's grasp of the Gaian language was even worse, although he gamely made the effort seeing as Gamu was trying so hard with Standard. When you couldn't communicate well, though, it made getting to know each other even more difficult than it would otherwise have been.

They _had_ managed to establish some kind of routine, though and they barely bumped into each other around the ship now, which was progress of a kind, he supposed. They were functioning, if nothing else; two complete strangers orbiting each other as they moved around the close quarters, somehow making it through one day at a time.

***

The breakthrough came on the sixth day of the journey. An unexpected meteor shower hit the shipping lanes and Katsumi had his work cut out for him, evading all the bits of flying rock coming at them. A sharp pop behind him, followed by the sound of something hissing and crackling, had him twisting in his seat and cursing creatively when he realised the connections that kept navigation running had just gone. Gamu unbuckled himself from the co-pilot seat and made to go towards it.

"Sit down!" Katsumi yelled, wishing he could free up a hand to yank the man back down into his seat. "Don't be an idiot, Gamu, damn it."

But Gamu was moving around the cockpit, picking things up and checking behind them, looking under work stations and who knew what else. Katsumi couldn't afford to keep too much attention on him, though. With the nav system down he was having to wing it using what he could see out the screen and expanding the proximity sensors as far as they would go, he didn't have the time to try and figure out what Gamu was trying to do.

There was a sigh behind him, followed by Gamu's voice saying something, the inflection at the end making it sound like a question. Unfortunately they hadn't progressed far enough with either language for Katsumi to have any idea what he wanted. "I have no idea what you're asking me," he replied, not taking his eyes off the screen. "Just sit down, look for whatever it is _after_ we make it through this."

Gamu muttered something under his breath that didn't sound particularly complimentary, then started poking around again, letting out a satisfied sound a couple of minutes later. Katsumi gritted his teeth and firmly reminded himself to stay focused. If Gamu wanted to scramble around at a time like this, let him; he'd yell at him for it when they were out of danger. A metallic _clunk_ had him jerking his head around, in spite of his resolve, only to realise that Gamu had found a screwdriver and was wrist-deep in wiring, his eyes narrowed in concentration as he worked.

There was a soft beeping noise and the navigation screen came back up, along with a few of the other functions that had gone down in the burn-out and Katsumi sighed in relief: that would make getting out of this mess much easier. "I didn't know you were a mechanic," he said as Gamu slipped into the co-pilot seat and buckled himself back in. Gamu just smiled and shrugged, then his eyes widened in alarm and he pointed at the screen. "Katsumi, there!"

Katsumi swore as he saw the rock coming flying at them and threw the _Lightning_ sharply to the left. That's what he got for getting distracted, he thought in annoyance. No matter what surprises Gamu still had tucked up that sleeve of his, he would have to wait until they were safe to start figuring them out.

***

Later, once they were finally out of the meteor shower and safely back on course, Katsumi fished the broken translator out and turned it over in his hands, wondering if it was worth giving it to Gamu to look over: he still had the headsets to go with it; if Gamu could fix it, it would make things a lot easier for them. If he couldn't, well, it wasn't as if they would be losing anything, right? Might as well give it a shot.

Gamu was seated at the small table in the kitchen, studying a datapad intently, his forehead creased with concentration. Probably one of the language excercises, Katsumi thought as he walked over. Gamu spent a lot of time studying them, much more than Katsumi did in his haphazard attempts at learning Gaian.

"Hey," he said in greeting as Gamu looked up, smiling hesitantly as he saw him. "Want to take a look at this?" He held the translator out and Gamu took it off him, turning it over curiously before recognition dawned and his smile became a bit stronger. "Just... stay here," Katsumi said hastily. "I'll get the toolkit for you." He picked up the headsets on the way as well, just in case, and he ended up sitting opposite Gamu as he discarded the datapad for the translator, unscrewing the back and fiddling around the wiring inside, poking at it with the smallest screwdriver in the kit.

It was interesting, watching Gamu working. It seemed like he'd finally found something Gamu enjoyed and was good at and it didn't hurt that it had turned out to be fixing stuff. No matter how things worked out back on Earth, whether they could get this marriage dissolved or not, he'd see if Gamu wanted to stay onboard as the mechanic. Even if he didn't want to there were plenty of places that could always use someone with Gamu's skills, he wouldn't be stranded on an unfamiliar world with nothing to do. Katsumi kind of hoped he'd agree to stay on, though. Strange as it might be considering the circumstances they'd met under, he was getting used to having Gamu around and was beginning to think sticking it out until they reached Earth wasn't going to be as difficult as he'd thought.

"Katsumi. Katsumi?" There was a light touch on his arm and Katsumi jerked upwards, looking around in confusion before realising he'd fallen asleep at the table, not to mention that he'd picked up a crick in the neck as a result. Gamu looked like he was trying not to laugh and Katsumi gave him a half-hearted scowl; this wasn't funny, damn it. Gamu reached out and made a valiant attempt at smoothing down a rebellious tuft of hair before Katsumi batted his hand away, feeling his cheeks heating up.

"I can do that myself," he muttered, squashing down the offending bit of hair firmly and this time Gamu _did_ laugh. " _What?_ " he demanded and Gamu shook his head, beckoning him over with a universal 'get over here' gesture, his fingers doing a better job of neatening up Katsumi's hair now he was a bit closer. And, now that he was closer, Katsumi noticed the headset fixed neatly around Gamu's right ear and his eyes widened. "You fixed it?"

"Yes," Gamu replied, picking up the other headset and handing it over, watching proudly as Katsumi fitted it around his own ear.

"You sure?" he asked and Gamu looked offended.

"Of course I'm sure," he retorted. "I can easily fix something as simple as that."

Katsumi blinked in surprise at first the dual sets of voices in his ear and secondly at the fact that yes, he really had understood what Gamu had just said. He grinned and gave Gamu a soft thump on the shoulder. "This is great," he said. "It's going to make everything so much easier."

Gamu grinned back and nodded. "It will. It was very frustrating before."

"It was," Katsumi agreed, picking up the translator's base station and turning it over in his hands. It still looked battered but at least it worked now. "I had no idea you were a mechanic." Gamu's smile faded and he stared down at the table, his fingers lacing together nervously. Katsumi frowned at the sight. Had he said something wrong? Or was it something the translator was interpreting wrong? "What is it?" he asked. "What did I say?"

"Nothing," Gamu said hastily. "Really, it's not important."

"Sure it is. Come on, Gamu. We can finally talk properly, don't shut down on me. How'm I supposed to know when I screw up if you don't tell me?"

There was a faint smile in reply as Gamu raised his head again, then it faded again. "It's not considered a good thing on my world, Katsumi. Being a mechanic, I mean." He sighed, his shoulder slumping. "We use the technology of other worlds but proper Gaians don't concern themselves with it. If something breaks down you get an Offworlder to fix it, not try to fix it yourself."

Katsumi rested his elbow on the edge of the table and propped his chin in the palm of his hand. "I was wondering about that," he admitted. The Gaians weren't technophobes but they weren't particularly interested in it either and he couldn't recall ever seeing a Gaian engineer working on anything, even in the spaceport, and with the spots running down the sides of their faces - and apparently down their arms, if the brief glimpses of Gamu's wrists under his sleeves were any indicator - they should have been easy to pick out. "How'd you get into it, then?"

Gamu shrugged. "I was always taking things apart and putting them back together when I was a child," he said. "My parents thought I'd grow out of it."

"But you didn't."

"How could I?" Gamu asked: a rhetorical question, clearly. "It was so interesting, finding out how things worked. I used to hide out at places like the port and they'd show me how things worked." He sighed again, cupping his chin in his palms without seeming to realise what he was doing. "The priests didn't like that."

Katsumi bit back his initial response to that. He'd had more than enough of Gaian priests to last a lifetime and if he never had to deal with another one it would be too soon. "That why they volunteered you for this?" he asked instead and Gamu nodded glumly.

"I'm a bad example to the faithful," he muttered. "Or so they say, anyway." He straightened up at that and faced Katsumi squarely. "While I think of it," he said, "now that we can understand each other I need to tell you something."

Katsumi felt his eyebrows rising at that. "Tell me what?"

Gamu tensed, his hands screwing up into balls on the table top. "When we reach Earth," he said, "you can have this marriage annulled, I won't contest it. You weren't consenting and everyone there knew it. They wouldn't stop it and I couldn't." He flushed and dropped his gaze again, looking guilty. "And... maybe I didn't want to, either. It was either go through with the ceremony or go to jail and I really didn't want to go to jail. I'm sorry."

Katsumi's ears roared and his own hands balled up into fists on the table as his stomach started tying itself in knots. "What happened that day?" he demanded. "I don't remember anything and it's driving me crazy. How did I end up agreeing to this?" Because if he'd been in his right mind there was no way in hell he would have and he didn't even remember what he'd done to piss them off in the first place.

"You didn't," Gamu said miserably. "That's how it ended up the way it did. You wouldn't agree so they made sure you wouldn't have a say in it. That way they could solve two problems at once and get more concessions out of you."

"Gamu," Katsumi said dangerously, " _what happened?_ How did they do it? Something I ate, something I drank?" If they'd drugged him it would explain a lot, he thought furiously. And when he got back to Earth he was taking this as high as he could so that it couldn't happen to anyone else.

Gamu blinked in surprise. "They wouldn't need to," he said, sounding as confused as he looked. "As long as they were touching you they could make you do whatever they wanted."

"How? How could they do that?" He didn't know what to think, anger and humiliation making it difficult to concentrate and Gamu curled up in on himself.

"We're... touch-telepaths?" he replied, his voice small. "I thought you knew that."

Katsumi pushed himself away from the table and started pacing, his hands running through his hair in frustration. "No, Gamu, I did _not_ know that. I don't think _anyone_ knows that." It had sure as hell never come up in any briefings he'd read about the Gaians and something like that _should_ have been included if it had been known. "You're telepathic as well?" He'd never liked the idea of someone being able to walk through his mind whenever they wanted and the knowledge that he'd been manipulated like some kind of puppet having his strings jerked made him furious.

Gamu flinched but nodded. "I can't tell what you're thinking unless I touch you," he said. "I can get a general idea of what you're feeling but that's it. Nothing specific."

"Oh, because that makes it so much better!" Katsumi snapped and Gamu sank further down in his seat. Katsumi reined in his temper minutely, taking a couple of deep breaths so he could talk without shouting. "You know what, I need some space to deal with this. I'm going to go back to the bridge. Don't follow me." He pulled the headset off as he walked out the kitchen, stuffing it into his pocket as he left.

God-damned telepaths.

***

Katsumi paced back and forth on the Bridge, his thoughts in a whirl. Telepaths, of all things. How did no-one know the Gaians were telepathic? How had it flown under the radar for so long? Alright, the Gaians were insular and off-worlders only had access to the port city, but surely it should have come up before now. Gaia had been part of the Trade Alliance before Terrans had even set foot off their own planet, even if _they_ didn't know about the Gaians being telepathic, _someone_ should have.

And what exactly had Gamu picked up from him? he wondered, pacing past the pilot seat. Not that he knew anything particularly confidential or anything but he really didn't like the idea of anyone being able to pick thoughts out of his head as easily as breathing. And had he...? No. No, he had no blurred memories from the time Gamu had arrived on board, only from his time on-planet and Gamu was only just starting to relax around him anyway, the few times they'd touched had been by accident. No, Gamu wasn't trying to read him or manipulate him, that much he could be reasonably sure of.

Spinning his seat around, Katsumi sank down into it, staring out into space and kicking at the console in irritation. He was angry and confused and he wanted a target to lash out at, but unfortunately he didn't have one. Being angry at Gamu was no good: this wasn't his fault and he hadn't tried to hide anything or lie to him about it once they could actually communicate properly. He'd been completely open about it, even knowing it could just make his situation worse. Katsumi growled in frustration and kicked the console again, a bit harder this time. Now he felt guilty on top of pissed off and confused and that wasn't a good combination.

He sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He'd apologise in the morning. Hopefully by then he'd have reined in enough of his temper that they could actually have something resembling a civilised conversation about this.

***

When he woke up the following morning Gamu was already up and out of their shared quarters, moving around in the kitchen if the muted clatters were anything to go by. Katsumi buried his face in his pillow and groaned. He didn't want to get up, didn't want to deal with the mess from the previous evening but it wasn't as if he had much of a choice. He couldn't stay in his quarters forever and he'd have to face Gamu sooner or later, might as well make it sooner.

Throwing the sheets off him, Katsumi climbed down the ladder, the coolness of the floor against his bare feet a familiar annoyance, one that he usually found himself missing when he was on Earth, and he pulled on a clean pair of socks while stifling a yawn. He only hesitated for a moment before squaring his shoulders and pushing the door open, grabbing the translator headset off the set of drawers as he passed; he could do this.

He paused again when he reached the kitchen, unsure of what to say or what reception he would get when he walked inside. Then he scowled and shoved the uncertainty away: this was _his_ ship damn it, he shouldn't be tip-toeing around like he was afraid of his own shadow. It wasn't as if Gamu was even dangerous anyway, what was there to be worried about? Gamu was by the sink, probably washing up the dishes from the previous day, but he turned as Katsumi cleared his throat to get his attention.

For a moment the other man froze, then he smiled as brightly as usual. "Katsumi, good morning." Having seen a genuine smile from Gamu the day before, however, Katsumi was acutely aware of just how brittle this smile - and most of his previous ones - was. He didn't want to see anymore of those, he wanted the real ones that weren't hiding unease behind cheerfulness.

"Morning. Ah, Gamu, about yesterday--"

"I got your breakfast ready," Gamu interrupted, turning back to the sink and busying himself there. "I didn't cook, though, so you're safe enough."

"Gamu--"

"Um, I was going to check the engine room later, if that's alright? One of the engines is making a sound I don't really like but I didn't want to just go there without asking you first, because it's not like we met under the best circumstances and it's perfectly understandable that you wouldn't trust me enough and--"

" _Gamu!_ " Katsumi said loudly, stalking round the kitchen and turning the other man around to face him, ignoring Gamu's tense expression with difficulty. "Will you just let me apologise already?"

Gamu stared at him, his tension switching to surprise. "Apologise?"

"Yeah," Katsumi replied awkwardly, letting go to scratch at the back of his head sheepishly. "I reacted badly last night and I'm sorry."

Gamu was still staring at him but he nodded slowly. "Alright. Um, about the engine room...?"

Katsumi rolled his eyes and thumped Gamu's shoulder lightly. "You can go to the engine room," he said patiently. "Fix anything you think needs fixing and let me know if there's anything you need. We can stop at one of Flash's moons to pick up whatever it is."

And there was the smile he'd seen yesterday, Katsumi thought in satisfaction as Gamu's expression brightened. They still needed to set out some more ground rules, not to mention go over the ones already in place and make sure they were actually understood instead of just assumed but maybe, just maybe, they could make this work out somehow.


End file.
